Pipe responsible for sinkhole on Charlotte Street replaced

City employees worked into Friday morning to repair a broken pipe that created a sinkhole Thursday night on Charlotte Street in downtown St. Augustine.

The water main break happened a couple of blocks from O.C. White’s and near the bayfront around 7 p.m. Friday.

Alma Sharamitaro had just left a meeting at Cathedral Parish School, where she teaches, and drove her RAV4 over a sinkhole that swallowed the left front of her car and pinned her inside for a short time, said St. Augustine Police Department Cpl. James Giammarinaro, who was on the scene.

“She was definitely, visibly upset,” Giammarinaro said.

The break caused water to run down Charlotte Street, crossing Bridge Street and even spilling onto Avenida Menendez after the accident. Charlotte Street runs parallel to Marine Street.

The reason the pipe broke is not yet known, but old age could be a factor, said Todd Grant, deputy director of public works for the City of St. Augustine.

The cast iron pipe could be anywhere from 30 to 50 years old, he said.

“If we had an endless supply of money, we’d replace all cast iron pipes with PVC,” Grant said.

Grant noted that many of the cast iron pipes are in good condition, and that pipes are replaced as needed — and as funding permits.

There are several things that can cause a pipe to break, including too much pressure from a heavy load or shrinking and swelling from temperature changes.

Water service to 12 homes between Bridge and Cadiz streets experienced reduced or no water pressure while Transmission and Distribution Department employees repaired the pipe, which broke at the bottom, Grant said. Water was restored around 12:30 a.m. Friday.

The city did not issue a boil water notice, and a crew should return to the site next week to replace the missing bricks, Grant said.